This invention relates to transmission of information over the internet or like network and more particularly to a system for providing end users with video, audio, hyper-text, and web content on a periodic basis based on the ability of the terminal at the end user to accept and display the information.
Transmission technology exists which allows a content provider to send information including video, audio, hyper-text and web documents to end users over telephone lines, through fiber optics, through satellite transmissions or through other direct connections. Such content including documents, program material, advertising, etc. has, in the past, been provided on a realtime basis in which an end user is denied access to the information if an application is running on his/her corresponding terminal. Moreover, another impediment to realtime information transfer is network bandwidth which severely limits the ability to transmit realtime data. This is especially true of full-frame video, as well as JPEG pictures.
The above makes exceedingly difficult the task of providing advertising, motion pictures, or other information-dense data to subscribers who seek it. Even if the data were available, there is presently no system for accessing this data by the end user unless the user endlessly clicks through folders and windows, which requires the end users to execute many xe2x80x9cpullxe2x80x9d operations, such as opening a web browser, selecting a command, etc. in order to pull up the required information.
The problems with such transmission technology centers around the limited capacity or volume of the network to transmit information which can be practically delivered to end users due to the infrastructure surrounding the net, such as CPU speed and network throughput. The result is that for entities to provide information to individual users on a requested basis, the information is not as easily accessible as changing the channels on a television. The reason, unlike the television scenario in which the only constraint is the time of the program such as news, drama, etc., is that end users on the network must be made aware of the arrival and location of data to be able to access it. Moreover, this must be done on a system which is bandwidth-limited and overloaded with applications that are running at the end user""s terminal.
Thus, the problem of providing realtime on-line access to information from a provider is that if an application is running on the user""s terminal, it is difficult to hold the information coming from the server, much less to provide the user with notice of the arrival of information and it""s contents at a glance.
Thus, the problem with a realtime system includes the difficulty of a subscriber expecting certain information to be able to have the information at his/her fingertips without getting out of the particular application running on his/her computer to await the arrival of the data.
Moreover, while indications of incoming data have been provided in the past, there was no way for the user to be able to select which data he/she wishes to access other than by a cumbersome process of accessing window after window until the sought-after information becomes available.
Rather than providing a realtime or continuous transmission of information to network users, in the subject invention the system ascertains whether or not the intended recipient""s computer is busy or not. In one embodiment, the server periodically checks the xe2x80x9cbusynessxe2x80x9d of the network and the end user""s terminal prior to transmitting stored information to this user. Thereafter, the server immediately after ascertaining that the network subscriber is capable of receiving the messages, sends out the message to the particular network address.
At the same time, the subject invention provides a change in the methodology of transmitting information by indicating that the information which has been subscribed to is available through the utilization of an on-screen icon. What this means to the end user is that rather than having to click through numerous windows to obtain the information for which he/she has subscribed, in the subject invention all that is necessary is to click on the appropriate icon on the screen, at which time the information from the server which has been locally stored is opened and presented to the user, thereby providing an ease of access to the information heretofore not possible.
The subject invention therefore ensures to information providers that they will not have any bandwidth limitations imposed on them. Thus, there are theoretically no limitations related to information capacity or volume of the system in order to provide the information to the subscribers.
The information required can take as much time as a week to be provided to local storage, and can be provided at such times as the user""s terminal is not busy. By sending information only when the user terminal is not busy, there is no limitation on the amount of information that can be provided and stored locally.
Information providers can therefore provide a service such as renting videos through the internet, selling CD music through the internet, and providing information which is recordable on CDs by recording and playback devices at the user""s terminal. Moreover, information providers can sell daily news as an electronic package and can provide audio/video/document advertising or catalogs to be delivered at off peak hours when applications are not running on the subscriber""s computers.
End users can easily identify the arrival of information and data and watch it by simply double-clicking the icon provided on the screen. The subject system therefore provides exceptionally easy operation for the accessing of subscribed-for information which increases the number of users and provides TV-like entertainment on demand through the subject non-realtime process.
In summary, advertisement and program material can be announced through the utilization of on-screen icons which are always presented on-screen and not in folders. The smart delivery technology is non-realtime so as to be able to locally store only those ads or program material the subscriber wants to see, followed by the delivery of the material with full frame video and audio. As will be appreciated, the information provider can provide an icon along with information to permit direct access by the user.
In one embodiment, a specialized algorithm is provided for ascertaining whether or not the user""s CPU is busy. The system is divided between the client side and the server side, with the client side maintaining a count representing the time that the CPU is occupied by applications running at the client side. This is done over a period such as five seconds to generate a number reflecting xe2x80x9cuser statexe2x80x9d, plus Kernel state, plus Context switches, thus to derive a value in terms of x mscc/5 sec. This value is compared with criteria indicating if the CPU is too busy. If so, a signal is provided over the net to stop transmitting data, with a hold signal being provided to the server side to interrupt any information being provided to the particular user.
The subject system also keeps track of the network occupation during the same preceding five seconds, with network occupation being a function of the data transmitted in terms of kilobytes for the last five seconds. This second number is compared with a second criteria utilized to indicate full occupation of the network. If the network occupation is above a predetermined level, a hold signal is sent from the client side to the server side. If the second number is less than that indicating full occupation, file transfer is slowed or stopped so as to not interfere with other running applications or data transfers.
In summary, if interference is sensed, then the second hold signal is provided to the server side to wait for a send mode signal which is generated from the client side and transmitted to the server side to send the remaining data. Thereafter, an end-of-data signal is transmitted from the server side to the client side. After receipt of the end-of-data signal, the client side transmits a xe2x80x9cdata transfer completexe2x80x9d signal to the server side indicating that the icon for the transmitted information exists on-screen at the client screen. Thus, at the point that the on-screen icon exists at the client side there is an indication sent to the server side of the receipt of data at the client side and that the information is stored locally at the client side.
Put another way, the server links the network to the screen of the user""s terminal and places the icon on the screen indicating to the user that the message has been delivered and is locally stored, simultaneously indicating the existence of a message. The icon can be placed on the screen even after being held, for instance, until a specific day such as a birthday.